After a challenging season so far, Alpine’s fortune has turned in its late stages with a double podium last time out in Sao Paulo promoting them from P9 to P6 in the standings and now a top 3 qualifying result for Gasly in Las Vegas.

Not only is this a season’s best result for Alpine but a career-best qualifying for Gasly, who credited Alpine’s “aggressive” low downforce aero package. Though this reflected in very strong straight line speed, as Gasly reached 352.9 km/h through the speed trap at the end of the Strip, it meant the Alpine suffered for grip through the corners.

Reflecting on his lap, Gasly said it “felt incredible and it was one of those when you cross the line and you know everything was thrown at it”. 

“Going into qualifying today, I must admit we never thought we’ll be in a position to actually you know, get in that top three, but yeah, I managed to have a very special lap at the right time on that last set in Q3 and yeah it’s a it’s a very nice surprise.”

Gasly’s result saw him outqualify the top four drivers in the standings, but he admits his race is not with these drivers or teams and instead about focusing on tyre performance over the race to maximise what’s possible with their package.

“It’s a challenging one around here with the graining,” he said. “So we’ll make sure we do our homework tonight to maximise the chances tomorrow. But for sure, from P3, we increase our chances to get some good points.